The East MacDonnells

Heading out of Alice Springs through Heavitree Gap and along the Ross Highway you soon reach tranquil Emily Gap, Alice Springs’ nearest waterhole, 10km from town. This is one of the most significant Arrernte sacred sites, being the birthplace of the ancestral Caterpillar beings who formed the surrounding landscape. There are some interesting stylized depictions of the caterpillars on the far side of a natural pool; and again at the equally peaceful Jessie Gap, a little further east. Corroboree Rock, 47km east of Alice Springs, is an unusual, fin-like outcrop of limestone with an altar-like platform and two crevices piercing the fin. The rock was once a repository for sacred objects and a site of initiation ceremonies, or corroborees.